Nemmaḷūru grant of Vijayāditya I

Metadata

Current Version:  draft, 2025-01-15Z

Editor:   Dániel Balogh.

DHARMA Identifier: INSVengiCalukya00066

Hand Description:

Halantas. Final M (e.g. line 19) looks like a small inverted question mark, starting around the midline and ending around the headline.

Original punctuation marks.

Other palaeographic observations. Anusvāra is normally to the right of the character to which it belongs, but may be above it; it is possibly inside the i marker on the next character in l15 vaṁgipaṟu. Retroflex ṇa has a shape that I find unusual, with the left wing bent down to form a closed loop with the top of the body. Doubling of consonants is occasionally omitted after r, e.g. l8 suvarṇa, l19 sarva, pūrvataḥ. In go (end of l1), the left-hand marker is attached to the lower part of the body.


Additional Metadata

No metadata were provided in the table for this inscription

Edition

Seal

1śrī-tribhuvan(ā)ṁkuśa

Plates

⎘ plate 1v 1svasti[.] śrīmatāṁ sakala-bhuvana-saṁstūyamāna-mānavya-sago-
2trāṇāṁ hārīti-putrāṇā⟨ṁ⟩ kauśikī-vara-prasāda-labdha-rājyānā⟨ṁ⟩ mātr̥-gaṇa-
3-paripālitānāṁ svāmi-mahāsena-pādānuddhyātānāṁ bhagavan-nārāyaṇa-
4-pras(ā)da◯-samāsādita-vara-varāha-lāṁcchanekṣaṇa-kṣaṇa-vaśīkr̥-
5tārāti-maṇḍalānāṁ Aśvamedhāvabhr̥tha-snāna-pavitrīkr̥ta-vapu-
6ṣāṁ caḷukyānāṁ k(u)lam ala(ṁ)kariṣṇo⟨ḥ⟩ śrī-maṅgi-yuvarājasya priya-pautraḥ
7(n)i(ja)-bhuja-bala-va(rji)tāśeṣa-bhūpāla-maṇḍalasya Aneka-tulā-dhr̥ta-
⎘ plate 2r 8 -suva(r)ṇa-dāna-varddhitāvadāta-kīrtteḥ sarvvalokāśraya-śrī-viṣṇuvarddha-
9na-mahārā(ja)sya priya-tanayaḥ s⟨v⟩a-pratāpāvanata-samasta-sā-
10manta-cakraś cakravartti-lakṣaṇopeto n(i?)ravadyodāra-gu⟨ṇa⟩-gaṇālaṁkr̥ta⟨ḥ⟩
11parama◯-brahmaṇyaḥ parama-māheśvaro mātā-pitr̥-pādānudhyāta-
12s (s)amasta-bhu(va)nāśraya-śrī-vijayāditya-mah(ā)rājādhirāja-parameśva-
13ra-bhaṭṭārakaḥ gudrahāra-viṣaye nemmaḷūru (n)āma grāmam adhivasato
14rāṣ(ṭ)ra(kūṭa)-pram(u)khān kuṭ¡i!⟨u⟩ṁbinas sarvvān i⟨t⟩tham ājñāpayati

viditam astu
⎘ plate 2v 15 vo [’]smābhiḥ vaṁgipaṟu-v¡a!⟨ā⟩stavyāya bhāradvāja-gotrāya mādhava--
16catu(r)vv(e)di-(śarmmaṇaḥ) pautrāya veda-vedāṁga-vid¿e?⟨aḥ⟩ śivaśarmmaṇaḥ putrā-
17ya v(e)da-(dva)yādhyāyin¿a?⟨e⟩ tad-guṇopetasya mādhavaśarmmaṇe candra-gra-
18haṇa-ni◯mitte Udaka-pūrvva⟨ṁ⟩ kr̥tv(ā) A(ṣ)ṭa-¡kaṇḍi!⟨khaṇḍika⟩-kodravāvāpa-pramā-
19(ṇaṁ) kṣetra(ṁ) sarva-kara-parihāreṇa dattaM

pūrvataḥ ciḷḷoruguḷa maḍḍa-
20ṁbu
[.] dakṣiṇataḥ cendaṟū-boya-kṣ¿o?⟨e⟩traM[.] paścimataḥ koḍu[.] Uttara-
21taḥ pḻāṇḍa(ṟaṁ)bu[.] Et¿o?⟨e⟩ṣāṁ catur-avadhi-madhya-varti kṣetraM[.] ¡grāmā!⟨grāmāt⟩ pa-
⎘ plate 3r 22 ścimataḥ[.] Asyopari na kenacid bādhā k¿ā?⟨a⟩r¿i?⟨a⟩¿i?⟨ī⟩yā[.] karoti yas sa pa-
23ñca-mahāpātaka-saṁyukto bhavati[.] vyāsenāpy uktaM

I. Anuṣṭubh
bahubhir vasu24dhā dattā
bahubhiś cānupālitā
yasya yasya yadā bhūmis
ta25sya ta◯sya tadā (ph)alaM

II. Anuṣṭubh
sva-dattāṁ para-dattāṁ vā
yo hareta 26vasundh¿ā?⟨a⟩rāṁ
ṣaṣṭi-v{v}a(r)ṣa-sahasrāṇi
viṣ¿ṭ?⟨ṭh⟩āyāṁ jāyate kr̥miḥ

III. Anuṣṭubh
bra27hma-svan tu viṣaṁ ghoraṁ
na viṣaṁ viṣam ucyate
viṣam ekākinaṁ 28hanti
brahma-svaṁ putra-pautrikaM

Āj(ñ)¡ā!⟨a⟩p(t)i boḻamma spiralRgomutraFinal

Apparatus

Seal

Plates

8 -kīrtteḥ-kīrttiḥ SR
9 s⟨v⟩a-pratāpāvanata-sapratāpāvanata- SR • My correction is confirmed by the identical locus in line 9 of the Dinakādu grant. Other related grants use sva-bhuja-bala-pratāpāvanata or simply pratāpāvanata in similar contexts, while the Varppoṁgu grant of Vijayāditya II reads pratāpānurāgāvanata-samasta-sāmanta-cakkraḥ in an almost identical context.
10 cakravartti-cakravarttiḥ SR
13 nemmaḷūrugommaḷūru SR • The first character is indistinct in the estampage, but clear in the original. The ARIE correctly reports the name of the village as Nemmalūru.
15 vaṁgipaṟu-vargipaṟu- SR • SR prints his reading both in his edition and in his discussion, so it is probably not a typo. The anusvāra is inside the circle of i over gi, and there is no repha.
16 -vid¿e?⟨aḥ⟩-vide SR • Though the text is meaningful without this emendation, because of this compound’s position in the sequence I believe this was the intent of the composer, so that the learnedness of each of the three generations is described with one adjective (rather than one for the grandfather, none for the father, and two for the donee).
17 tad-guṇopetasyatadgyajñodevasya SR
18 -¡kaṇḍi!⟨khaṇḍika⟩-kodravāvāpa--kaṇḍikādravāvāpa- SR18–19 -pramā/(ṇaṁ) kṣetra(ṁ)-prāmā/ṇa-kṣetrā SR
19–20 ciḷḷoruguḷa maḍḍa/ṁbuciṭṭeruguṭa maṭṭa/bu SR19 cendaṟū-boya-ṣendaṟūbāya SR • The reading is unambiguous with the combined testimony of the estampage and the photos. The intent may have been cendaṟūr-boya-; compare the toponym cendaṟura in the Cendalūr plates of Maṅgi Yuvarāja.
21 pḻāṇḍa(ṟaṁ)buppāṇḍaṟabu SR • Being unable to interpret this word, I am not entirely certain of its reading, but the photos of the original plate are fairly unambiguous in spite of corrosion.
27 -svan tu-svantya SR
28 boḻammabhauṟama SR • The spelling of this name is boḻama in the Zulakallu and Eḍeru of plates Vijayāditya I. The identity has also been pointed out by G. S. Gai (1965-1966: page 301, note 1). The subscript m in the present instance is small due to lack of space in the bottom line, but clear and unambiguous in photos of the original.28 spiralRgomutraFinalśrī SR • There is definitely no alphabetic text here. SR may have rendered the symbols as śrī, neglecting to note that this is represented by a symbol.

Translation by Dániel Balogh

Seal

Plates

1-14Greetings. The dear grandson of His Majesty Maṅgi Yuvarāja, who was eager to adorn the lineage of the majestic Caḷukyas—who are of the Mānavya gotra which is praised by the entire world, who are sons of Hārīti, who attained kingship by the grace of Kauśikī’s boon, who are protected by the band of Mothers, who were deliberately appointed (to kingship) by Lord Mahāsena, to whom the realms of adversaries instantaneously submit at the [mere] sight of the superior Boar emblem they have acquired by the grace of the divine Nārāyaṇa, and whose bodies have been hallowed through washing in the purificatory ablutions (avabhr̥tha) of the Aśvamedha sacrifice—; the dear son of His Majesty King (mahārāja) Viṣṇuvardhana (III), the shelter of all the world (sarva-lokāśraya), who has fended off↓1 the entire circle of kings by the power of his own arm, and whose resplendent fame was heightened by gifts of gold weighed in many a balance (against his body); [namely] His Majesty the supremely pious Supreme Lord (parameśvara) of Emperors (mahārājādhirāja), the Sovereign (bhaṭṭāraka) Vijayāditya, shelter of the entire universe (samasta-bhuvanāśraya), supreme devotee of Maheśvara, who was deliberately appointed (as heir) by his mother and father, who has the complete circle of peripheral rulers (sāmanta) bowed down through his own prowess, who possesses the bodily marks of a universal sovereign (cakravartin) and who is adorned by a host of irreproachable (niravadya) and noble virtues, commands all householders (kuṭumbin)—including foremost the territorial overseers (rāṣṭrakūṭa)—inhabiting the village Nemmaḷūru in Gudrahāra district (viṣaya) as follows:

14-19Let it be known to you that on the occasion of an eclipse of the moon we have given, sanctified by (a libation of) water and with a remission of all taxes, a field to the extent [sufficient for sowing] eight khaṇḍikas of kodrava to the grandson of the caturvedin Mādhavaśarman, the son of Śivaśarman who was versed in the Vedas and the Vedāṅgas↓2 [namely] Mādhavaśarman, a student of two Vedas, a resident of Vaṁgipaṟu of the Bhāradvāja gotra who is endowed with his [i.e. his father’s] virtues.

19-23To the east, ciḷḷoruguḷa maḍḍaṁbu. To the south, the field of Cendaṟū-boya. To the west, a stream (koḍu). To the north, Pḻāṇḍaṟaṁbu. The field is located amid these four boundaries. To the west of the village. Let no-one pose an obstacle (to his enjoyment of his rights) over it. He who does so shall be conjoined with the five great sins. Vyāsa too has said:

I.
Many (kings) have granted land, and many have preserved it (as formerly granted). Whosoever at any time owns the land, the fruit {reward (accrued of granting it)} belongs to him at that time.

II.
He who would seize land, whether given by himself or by another, shall be born as a worm in faeces for sixty thousand years.

III.
The property of a Brahmin is terrible poison: it is not [actual] poison that is [properly] called poison. Poison kills just the one man, while [seizing] the property of a Brahmin [destroys] his progeny.

28The executor (ājñapti) is Boḻamma.

Commentary

There is a present-day village Nimmaluru at 16° 16′ 13.08″ N, 80° 59′ 48.12″ E, in Gudivada taluk of Krishna district (so probably in Gudrahāra Viṣaya), though not in West Godavari district, where the inscription is said to have been found. There is a stream (koḍu?) to the west of this village, but I find no names recognisable from the grant in its vicinity.

Bibliography

Reported in ARIE 1934-1935: page 7, appendix A/1934–35, № 19 without discussion of details. Edited by R. Subba Rao (1930-1931: № 1), probably from the original as well as from estampages, with estampages (of the plates and the seal) and translation. The present edition by Dániel Balogh is based on photos of the original taken by myself in February 2023 at at the Andhra Sahitya Parishad Museum, Kakinada, collated with Subba Rao’s edition and his facsimiles. Minor typographic mistakes in Subba Rao’s edition are ignored in the apparatus here.

Primary

Subba Rao, R. 1930–1931. “Two New Copper Plate Inscriptions of Vijayaditya I.” JAHRS 5: 51–56.
№ 1. [siglum SR]

Secondary

ARIE 1934-1935. Page 7, appendix A/1934–35, № 19.

Notes

↑1. This reading strikes me as strange; I would expect “conquered” here. See the apparatus to line 7.
↑2. As per the received text, the qualification “versed in the Vedas and the Vedāṅgas” applies to the donee, but I believe it was intended to describe his father; see the apparatus to line 16.